The Winery

The cellar of Bodegas Vidal Soblechero was built in 1999. Its capacity will be about 100,000 kilogram of grapes. There are thirteen stainless steel tanks with a volume of 15,000 litres each. To control the fermentation process they are equipped with a system of circulating hot and cold water. There is also an isotherm tank used both for the mushing of the must and the stabilizing of the finished young white wine.

The aging cellar with more than 120 barrels of american and french oak, is in another building. The subterranean hall has optimal climatic conditions for the aging of the red wines. Only the seven barrels for the fermentation of the special white wine remain in the winery itself. Vidal Vidal, the technical director of the winery, aims to achieve a golden colour in his white wine. Pale wines in his eyes are not typical for this region. To extract colour from the skins, part of the grapes is mushed for about eight hours at 8° C. Afterwards, all grapes are smoothly pressed by a traditional vertical press, which results in a lower yield but a higher quality of must. Fermentation takes place at a relatively high temperature. Vidal wants to vinify a wine with a harmonic balance of structure and fruit, rather than a nice white wine with an initial attack of fruits and flowers followed by a deep sinking into the wide ocean of meaninglessness. The Verdejo Viña Clavidor once vinified will be slightly both filtered and stabilized . There are several bottlings during the year - the first in January; the last just before the harvest of the next vintage. This is very important, especially in summer, when, in Rueda, temperatures rise to 40° C, because it is easier to control temperature in tanks than in a bottle cellar.

The white barrel fermented verdejo is not made every year. Only the best grapes are selected and mushed for about one day. Afterwards the must is filled in seven or eight new barrels of french oak. The grapes are fermanted by their own yeast. No artificial yeast is added. During the first part of the fermentation the bâtonnage is performed daily; later on, one or two times a week. Also, for the malolactic fermentation and the aging process, which lasts for several months, the wine is kept in the oak barrels. At last, the naturally settled wine is ready to be bottled without any kind of filtration.

The red wines, always a hundred percent Tinta Fina, are also fermented in stainless steel tanks. During the fermentation, the temperature of the must does not go above 28° C. All in all the must spends about one month on the grape skin. The alcoholic fermentation is done within fifteen days. A small amount of the red wine undergoes its malolactic fermentation in oak barrels; the remain in the tanks. There are two types of red wine. Claudio Vidal Obregón Tinto is aged for six month in oak barrels of mainly american oak. The Viña Clavidor Tinto, the premium brand of the winery, is kept in french and american barrels for up to one year. The barrels are used for three years. The wines are now ready for bottling. They are never filtered or stabilized.